Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo continued their doubles dominance in 2017, capturing a thrilling final at Wimbledon on Saturday. The Polish-Brazilian duo prevailed 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(2), 6-3, 13-11 over Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic, needing four hours and 40 minutes to claim their first Grand Slam title as a team. “Everybody knows how much I want to win this tournament. The year I won Roland Garros, I said my focus was to win here,” said Melo. “Wimbledon is Wimbledon, the tournament I dreamed about since I was young. I did all the preparations to play my best here. I'm really glad to be able to do it. “I said to Lukasz before the match that I did everything in my...
Thirteen matches down, one to go. Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo stayed perfect on the grass on Thursday, ousting top seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-2, 4-6, 9-7 in the Wimbledon semi-finals. Melo/Kubot will now put their grass-court streak to the ultimate test: the Wimbledon doubles final. In Saturday's championship, the fourth seeds will meet 16th seeds Oliver Marach of Austria and Mate Pavic of Croatia, who outlasted Croatians Nikola Mektic and Franko Skugor 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(4), 3-6, 17-15 in four hours and 35 minutes. It will be a maiden Grand Slam final for both teams, but both Melo and Kubot have won Grand Slam titles with different partners. Melo, playing with Ivan Dodig, won the 2015...
Henri Kontinen and Marcelo Melo will go face-to-face on Thursday in a battle to decide who will be No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings on Monday, when the new list is published. Kontinen and John Peers kept alive their hopes of capturing a second Grand Slam championship trophy of the season on Wednesday when they booked their place in the Wimbledon doubles semi-finals. The top seeds and Australian Open champions kept their nerve to beat No. 10 seeds and Roland Garros titlists Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-7(4), 7-6(7), 6-1 in three hours and 17 minutes. Kontinen and Peers resumed on Wednesday leading 6-4, 6-7(5), 4-3, but were unable to convert two set point chances at...
Sixteenth seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic are the first team to reach the doubles semi-finals at Wimbledon, doing so with an emphatic 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 win on Tuesday over Marcin Matkowski and Max Mirnyi. Marach’s only other Grand Slam semi-final came at the 2009 Australian Open (w/Kubot), while Pavic has never reached the last four at a major. They’ll take on Hans Podlipnik-Castillo and Andrei Vasilevski or Nikola Mektic and Franko Skugor in the next round. That quarter-final was suspended due to rain on Tuesday, with Podlipnik-Castillo/Vasilevski serving at 7-6(8), 4-6, 1-1. [ALSO LIKE] Top seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers also had their quarter-final suspended against tenth seeds and Roland Garros champions Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus. Kontinen/Peers...
Fourth seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo rallied from the brink of defeat on Monday at Wimbledon, fighting back from two sets down to reach the quarter-finals over 14th seeds Florin Mergea and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 6-7(3), 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2. Kubot/Melo remain unbeaten on grass this year after prevailing at the Ricoh Open (d. Klaasen/Ram) and Gerry Weber Open (d. Zverev/Zverev). They’ve also picked up ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles this year in Miami (d. Monroe/Sock) and Madrid (d. Mahut/Roger-Vasselin). Next up for them are Marcus Daniell and Marcelo Demoliner or British brothers Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski. [ALSO LIKE] Top seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers continued their quest for a first Wimbledon crown by defeating qualifiers Hugo...
